If you’ve read more than two articles I’ve written then you should know that I favor unconventional training methodologies that push and challenge both body and mind. I firmly believe that this is the only way to get really big and hit your goals. From that perspective DoggCrapp Training (a.k.a. DC Training) definitely fits the bill. This incredibly intense program includes heavy progressive weights, lower volume/higher frequency of body parts trained, high intensity/rest-pause training, extreme stretching, a high protein diet and periodization (“blasting” and “cruising”). Here are the basics:

Lower volume/higher frequency:

In most training routines you train each body part once a week doing 3-4 different exercises per muscle group. With DC Training, you only do 1-2 exercise per muscle group per day but you’re hitting each muscle group twice every 8 days. The lower volume of exercises means that your body can recover more rapidly, which in turn allows for a short turnaround between training sessions;

Exercise rotation:

The base program runs on a cycle hitting every body part 2 times every 8 days. It’s not as complicated as it sounds-you start by picking 3 exercises for each the various muscle groups like this: chest, back (width), back (thickness), delts, triceps, biceps, forearms and calves, hamstrings and quads. You do only one of those exercises per muscle group per workout but then you rotate to the next exercise in the following workout. Remember though that you’re doing each exercise 3 times to total failure in each workout so don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s easy. Here is what a sample routine might look like:

* Monday: Chest, shoulders, triceps and back (width and thickness);

* Wednesday: Biceps, forearms, calves, hamstrings and quads;

* Friday: Chest, shoulders, triceps and back (width and thickness);

* Monday: Biceps, forearms, calves, hamstrings and quads;

So you can see how every 8 days you’ve cycled through each body part twice, doing a different one of each of the 3 exercises you’ve chosen per workout. Keeping a training journal can keep you organized and help keep track of where you are in the training cycle;

High intensity/rest-pause training:

DC Training demands intensity. To begin, you do 2-5 warm-up sets (lighter weight) before the first set is performed to failure followed by 10-15 deep breaths before performing another set to failure. This is again followed by 10-15 deep breaths and then a final set to failure before moving on to the next exercise or muscle group. The goal is to explode on the uplift and descend with a controlled negative of about 6-8 seconds. You’ve got to be prepared both mentally and physically to take on Rest-Pause training though because instead of taking a one or two minute break between sets, you’re only resting for 20-30 seconds between each one;

Extreme stretching:

Stretching is an important part of the recovery process in DC Training. There are specific stretches for the chest, triceps, biceps, shoulders, back, quads, hamstrings and calves;

Diet:

The DC Training diet is very high in protein with a recommended intake of between 1.5 to 2.0 grams per pound of body weight;

Periodization:

The “blasting” phase is 6-12 weeks of high intensity, all-out training followed by a “cruising” phase of 10-14 days of maintenance training before repeating the cycle once again;

One of the nice things about DC Training is that it leaves plenty of room for customization. For example, instead of Monday-Wednesday-Friday-Monday, you could do Monday-Tuesday-Thursday-Friday but split the workout into 3 parts in order to shorten your training sessions (great if you’ve got a hectic schedule). Day 1 could include chest, shoulders and triceps. On Day 2 you could train biceps, forearms and back (width and thickness) and on Day 3 you could work calves, hamstrings and quads. This cuts your workout down to about 35 minutes including stretching but still has you hitting each body part twice in 9 days.

A lot of guys have had phenomenal results following the DC Training program. If you’re going to do it though, be prepared to really commit yourself to doing it right. DC Training requires you to push your body as far as it can go and then some-that’s why it works. To get the best results you’ve got to be prepared to give it your all and make it a really intense workout, pushing on for one more rep even when your mind and body are screaming “No!” If not, you’ll just be wasting your time.